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ChoreMonster, the Over-the-Rhine startup that aims to make chores fun for kids and less stressful for their parents, has closed a $1.5 million early stage round of funding and is announcing a partnership with the Procter & Gamble toothpaste brand Crest Oral-B.

The funding, which will allow ChoreMonster to hire additional employees and bring its staff to 14, is also notable because it marks the entry of Detroit executive Dan Gilbert into the region’s entrepreneurial infrastructure.

Gilbert, the chairman of Cincinnati casino operator Rock Ventures LLC, is also a founding partner in Detroit Venture Partners, a venture capital firm that backs seed and early stage companies. Detroit Venture Partners is leading the funding round, which also includes existing investor CincyTech.

Civic and business leaders have made supporting high-potential startups a key component of the region’s economic development strategy, and attracting early stage venture capital into local companies is a priority. That capital is critical in order for startups to build out their teams, and accelerate sales and marketing efforts after the product has already entered the market.

The 2010 Agenda 360 and Vision 2015 Regional Indicators Report found that Cincinnati ranked ninth among peer cities in attracting venture capital. DVP’s ChoreMonster investment is evidence that this region can create companies that will attract outside investment of both capital and expertise. This is DVP’s second investment in an Ohio startup.

“DVP is a firm led by experienced and successful entrepreneurs with a hands-on, deterministic approach to early stage investing that is aligned with our approach,” said Mike Venerable, CincyTech’s managing director for digital, software and health technology companies.

“DVP is one of several new Midwest funds that are bringing new energy and capital to work in cities like ours, and DVP is active and engaged in Cincinnati. We fully expect to work with them on other opportunities in the future.”

DVP will provide ChoreMonster with expertise in addition to capital. Ted Serbinksi, a DVP partner, co-founded ParentsClick, which was acquired by Lifetime Televeision.

“ChoreMonster is the epitome of a great parenting startup. It’s built by real parents, for parents, and has a healthy dose of fun that really connects kids and parents,” Serbinksi said in a statement.

ChoreMonster and DVP started talking more than a year ago, when co-founder Chris Bergman went to Detroit’s M@dison building, a 50,000-square-foot entrepreneurial hub that houses DVP’s offices.

Bergman wasn’t there to meet with DVP, but ended up pitching to DVP CEO Josh Linkner, whom the magazine Fast Company was profiling. As part of the profile, Fast Company wanted to see Linker evaluate a proposas and asked Bergman, who was waiting to meet somebody else, to pitch.

DVP typically invests in high-potential Detroit-based startups, so Bergman was surprised when, three months after meeting Linkner, Gilbert invited him to Detroit for a meeting. Gilbert’s family had started using ChoreMonster and the executive was a fan.

“Typically when you work with guys at that level, they want to make broad, sweeping changes to your business model to fit in with their dynamic of what they think the company should be,” Bergman said.

“Dan didn’t do that at all. He gave me very specific, particular advice to help make our product better. You could tell that he cared about the product and our users.”

Through ChoreMonster’s Web site or app, parents can assign chores to their kids worth a specific number of points for successful completion. Children trade in the points they earn for rewards. They also “earn” interactive monsters that have unique personas and voices.

Membership fees range from about $4 to $7 a month depending on how the consumer is accessing ChoreMonster, which is designed for children ages 4-12.

The new round brings ChoreMonster’s funding to $2.28 million since Bergman and Paul Armstrong launched the company in 2011. In addition to CincyTech, the downtown public-private investor, ChoreMonster’s local investors include Vine Street Ventures and private individuals.

And its partnership with Crest illustrates another asset Cincinnati startups want to leverage - access to the wide swath of public and private companies in the region. With more than 1 million chores completed to date, ChoreMonster can potentially offer home care brands rich insights and powerful partnership opportunities.

ChoreMonster is a 2011 graduate of The Brandery, the Over-the-Rhine consumer marketing and branding accelerator that offers its startups several layers of support, including access to mentors from a range of companies including P&G, which is the biggest advertiser in the world.

Crest will give ChoreMonster access to additional users. The brand is giving away 1,000 memberships for six months to ChoreMonster through its Facebook and Twitter pages.

ChoreMonster should give P&G insights into the challenges every parent faces with getting children to brush their teeth. As part of the relationship, ChoreMonster will create a video with its monsters that teaches kids how to brush. Bergman said ChoreMonster is also starting to hire more animators and illustrators, and is developing apps for Android and Microsoft users.⬛